Steve McIntosh Report Blog

What the public thinks about the NSA leaks

by Steve McIntosh,posted Jun 28 2013 1:35AM

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press surveyed 1,500 people recently about N-S-A phone and internet surveillance. 44% of those questioned say the release of classified information about the N-S-A program harms the public … while 49% say it serves the public interest.
However, 54% … including identical majorities of Republicans and Democrats … 59% each … say the government should pursue a criminal case against the person responsible for leaking the classified information about the program.
60% of the younger people questioned say the N-S-A leak serves the public interest.
The public is divided over the N-S-A surveillance program itself. 48% approve and 47% disapprove “the government’s collection of telephone and internet data as part of anti-terrorism efforts”.
Americans are obviously split over the issue of privacy versus national security. I’ll bet the same poll taken within a few days after some national terrorism attack would bring much different results.
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Our thought for today is from George Bernard Shaw:

“An American has no sense of privacy. He does not know what it means. There is no such thing in the country.”